Doubting the Dark
by Jaelyn Park
Summary: Transfer student, Valerie, has attended Hogwarts for barely 4 weeks before Dumbledore drops a bomb: Hogwarts will hold House Cup Tournament, a mini version of the Triwizard Cup. Soon, the time comes where Valerie has to decide between the light or dark.
1. Prologue

**Pairings: **Draco Malfoy/OC, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley.

**A/N:** In this story, the following...

- Dolores Umbridge came and left Hogwarts two weeks before Harry and his year did their OWLs.

- Severus Snape fills in as DADA and Potions professor until the end of the year.

- Pansy Parkinson is a brunette.

- Draco Malfoy doesn't become a Death Eater until the Christmas of his sixth year, so all that stuff with the mending of the Vanishing Cabinet and Dumbledore doesn't happen until after Christmas.

- The House Cup Tournament doesn't start until the beginning of sixth year, which will be in a few chapters from now. Just some transitional chapters to fill in some missing information.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter world, etc etc, I only own this plot and the Blackwater's.

* * *

**Doubting the Dark: Prologue**

"Charles, I will give you one last chance to accept," whispered the Dark Lord.

Lexy was blinded by the darkness, being shoved into a murky corner; she saw only the vague outlines of the figures moving around in the dim light. She was bound to a rickety chair, around her ankles and her wrists behind her. Lexy squirmed despite the magic that fixed her wrists together tore into her skin every time she moved. Her husband stood in the middle of the bare room, paralyzed by magic, the room lit by only one oil lamp. Voldemort circled the man, his black robes gliding against the hardwood floor. The walls of the room were lined by Death Eaters; all hooded and masked.

"Don't do it, Charles!" exclaimed Lexy.

"Shut up, you stupid woman," Voldemort spat in her direction. "_Silencio! Crucio!_"

Charles didn't have to hear or see his wife but he knew that she probably wanted to die at that moment.

"STOP IT!" yelled Charles.

"Stop what, the silencing charm? Of course," said Voldemort, waving his wand. Blood curdling shrieks erupted from the corner as Voldemort laughed evilly.

"Reconsidering yet, Mister Blackwater?"

"Please stop, I'm begging you," cried the man. His face was twisted up with the pain that Lexy was experiencing. She writhed in the chair, crying out in pain. A nearby Death Eater slapped her across the face, knocking her over and on to her side. Voldemort stopped pacing and stood directly in front of Charles, leaning in so that their noses almost touched.

"Give me one good reason why I should," Voldemort hissed.

"She's pregnant," Charles breathed. "She's 6 months pregnant."

Voldemort pulled back. Lexy stopped screaming. The room was quiet.

"Give me your first born child, and I will let you and your wife live. If not..." the Dark Lord proposed, trailing off, his eyes narrowing. The two men locked gazes and Voldemort's stare seemed to go through Charles' eyes and into his mind, probing around.

"No," Charles said, his gaze was firm.

"You _will_ give me your first born child," murmured Voldemort. He waved his wand and Lexy was suddenly pulled into the middle of the room in her chair.

"_Never,_" Charles retaliated. He quietly thanked the heavens for the power of Occlumency. Voldemort laughed again, sending chills down Charles' spine. The chair that Lexy was strapped to disappeared and she was dumped onto the floor at Charles' feet, breathing hard.

'_It's going to be okay,'_ Lexy thought to Charles. She saw him swallow nervously.

Suddenly, Lexy started to scream again, her eyes rolling to back of her head and she wildly thrashed against the floor.

"Your wife is awfully vocal_,_" said Voldemort. He crouched down and took Lexy's chin between his forefinger and thumb. "Such a waste of talent, you two could be a great addition to our side."

"We have no interest in joining your little posse," said Charles.

"So be it," said Voldemort, dropping Lexy onto the floor again. "_Avada Kedavra_."

A thick beam of neon green light hit Charles square in the chest. He dropped to the floor with a thud, lifeless and limp. Lexy started to sob, her chest heaving against the floor, but the Death Eaters remained motionless.

"Malfoy," called Voldemort. The said Death Eater stepped forward.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Take care of this. If you all must gossip about this..." the Dark Lord said, gesturing to Charles' and Lexy's bodies on the floor, "...ordeal, do not speak of the Blackwater name."

With that, he exited the room with Peter Pettigrew closely following.


	2. Chapter One: Welcome to Hogwarts

**Pairings: **Draco Malfoy/OC, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley.

**A/N:** In this story, the following...

- Dolores Umbridge came and left Hogwarts two weeks before Harry and his year did their OWLs.

- Severus Snape fills in as DADA and Potions professor until the end of the year.

- Pansy Parkinson is a brunette.

- Draco Malfoy doesn't become a Death Eater until the Christmas of his sixth year, so all that stuff with the mending of the Vanishing Cabinet and Dumbledore doesn't happen until after Christmas.

- The House Cup Tournament doesn't start until the beginning of sixth year, which will be in a few chapters from now. Just some transitional chapters to fill in some missing information.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing here except for the storyline and the Blackwater's.

* * *

**Doubting the Dark: Chapter ****One**

Severus Snape sat in the dim light of his office. He flipped through the papers of the most recent Potions written exam, grading them.

_Pansy Parkinson, Acceptable. Ronald Weasley, Poor. Vincent Crabbe, Acceptable. Harry Potter, Acceptable. Hermione Granger, Exceeds Expectations. Gregory Goyle, Acceptable. Draco Malfoy, Outstanding. Lavender Brown, Acceptable._

A loud rattling noise at his window made Snape look up. With a wave of his wand, Fawkes flew through the window and perched on Snape's shoulder, dropping a note in front of him.

Unfolding it, he read:

_Severus;_

_In a few short minutes, your god-daughter will be arriving to Hogwarts via the Floo Network into your office. You two have some catching up to do, yes? Afterwards, bring her up to my office along with the Veritaserum. The password is 'peppermint leaves'._

_Regards _

– _Albus._

'_So the time has come,'_ thought Snape. He had already been informed the previous week that the god-daughter he had barely seen, except for the Death Eater gatherings, was coming to Hogwarts.

Another loud crashing sound erupted in the Potions master's office as he shook his head before looking up at the dusty girl who had just tumbled through his fireplace.

"Dear Valerie," Snape said, standing and walking around to the front of his desk, "You were always exceptionally talented at everything, but you could never master using the Floo network gracefully."

The said girl ducked her head in embarrassment, brushing off her clothes. Snape noticed that she was still in her Beauxbatons uniform. Valerie Blackwater's father, Charles Blackwater, had been a Death Eater by force because of his position in the Ministry. Both her parents were exceptionally skilled in Legilimency and Occlumency.

"Professor," she said, standing up straight, "It's been too long."

Valerie stepped forward and embraced her god-father briefly, before he held her from an arms length away to look at her properly. It really hadn't been _that _long since Snape had seen her, since they met at every single meeting. Valerie stood before him, he realised how _long_ it had been since she had been under the influence of Darkness. She had long black hair that shone brown in the light and unique midnight blue eyes that could be mistaken for dark grey. Her hair was twisted into a messy knot that sat on her shoulder. Her beauty had surely been passed down through her mother.

"We will have the chance to catch up later; I have many questions for you. But first," Snape paused and waved his wand and Valerie's face and uniform was spotless. She laughed slightly.

"Dumbledore told me that my trunk is already here," Valerie said, looking around.

"He probably meant in your dormitory," Snape stopped in front of the door. "Come, it's almost dinnertime and you need to be sorted into your house."

The girl nodded. As Snape opened the wooden door, a familiar boy with white blonde hair and stormy pale blue eyes stood in the doorway, his fist raised as if he were about to knock.

"Draco Malfoy," Snape said curtly, glancing back quickly at Valerie. "What are you doing here? It is almost time for dinner."

"I was about to ask you about the Deflating Draught we were looking at in class today, but I see that you have company," Draco said, nodding towards Valerie. She was standing up straight behind Snape with her hands clasped together in front of her. It was the _way that proper young ladies stood_, according to Madame Maxime.

"We were on our way out, perhaps another time, Mister Malfoy," said Snape, walking past him. Valerie stayed where she was, hesitating.

"But professor, since we are all here, why not some introductions?" Draco said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, raking his gaze from Valerie's lean legs up to her dark blue eyes. Valerie shifted uncomfortably in his stare.

"Since you two are in the same year, you will meet soon enough."

Snape turned around and started to walk, Valerie quickly followed, stepping around Malfoy.

The potion's professor hastily turned the left into a wall, disappearing for a brief second, alarming Valerie. A few seconds later, Snape emerged again, slipping a small vial of clear liquid into the folds of his robes.

"Come quickly," Snape called.

xxx

The pair paced through the castle, through endless corridors and up many flights of stairs before they ended up in front of a gargoyle. Valerie's eyebrow arched.

"Peppermint leaves," Snape said to the gargoyle and the hidden staircase it guarded was revealed.

"Wow," Valerie said simply. "They never had this kind of stuff at Beauxbatons."

Snape chuckled before going up the stairs.

xxx

Valerie headed up the stairs behind Snape, and he knocked on the wood of the door sharply.

"Come in," a soft voice answered.

Entering the office, Valerie let out a quiet breath of amazement. The walls of the office were covered in either shelves of books, trophies or moving paintings. In the middle of the room was heavy wooden ornate desk with a set of stairs on each side, leading to a raised platform. Behind the desk sat Albus Dumbledore himself.

"You must be Miss Blackwater," said the old wizard. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and Valerie wasn't sure if he had smiled her not because his long white beard blocked is mouth out of sight. "You remind me so much of your dear father."

"Yes," she replied, walking further into the office until she stood in front of the desk and bowed her head slightly in respect, "It is an honor to finally meet the great Headmaster of Hogwarts. Thank you for replying to my letter so promptly."

"Yes, of course. It would not have been noble if I were to leave a witch in distress – and you do not need to worry, Madame Maxime is already aware of your current situation," replied Dumbledore. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you," said Valerie. Dumbledore waved his hand and a cushioned chair appeared.

"Please take a seat," he said, gesturing towards the chair.

"Miss Blackwater, I'll have to ask you a series of questions due to our current arrangement. Think of it as a formality," Dumbledore said.

"Of course, you need proof to be trusted, which is what I guess is what you mean," Valerie said, nodding to herself.

"Precisely...first things first," Dumbledore cleared his throat and Snape stepped forward. Valerie had almost forgotten about her god-father. "Severus, did you bring the Veritaserum?"

Snape handed over the vial of liquid that she had noticed earlier. What a better way to earn trust the by downing a truth potion.

"I'll have you know, Miss Blackwater, we had the potion's power strengthened out of precautions. Some of the other members of the Order are still doubtful," explained Dumbledore, motioning for Snape to give the vial to her. "If you may?"

"I understand," Valerie pulled the stopper off the top of the glass tube and tipped the entire contents into her mouth. Her eyes met with Dumbledore briefly, his eyes boring into her, as if he was looking into Valerie's mind (which was probably what he was doing), before relaxing again.

"Firstly," Dumbledore began with a short nod, "Who are you?"

"My name is Valerie Rose Blackwater; my parents were Charles and Alexandra Blackwater. I turned 15 years old last August and I am a 5th year student."

"Tell me about your parents, Miss Blackwater."

"My father was a pureblood and my mother was a half-blood. My father worked for the Ministry but was killed before I was born. He was close friends with Professor Snape, and my mother asked him to be my god-father shortly after he passed."

"I see. Do you know how your father died?" inquired Dumbledore, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Voldemort murdered him," Valerie said bluntly. She shivered slightly.

"Then why are you here now? Why Hogwarts?" asked Dumbledore. He was already very much aware of the poor girl's life story, although the Veritaserum confirmed things. Severus had told him that Valerie was never much of a liar, anyway.

"I wanted to switch allegiance – I _want_ to switch allegiance. I thought that it was stupid how the Dark Lord controlled my life, as well as my mother's, destroyed my father's and is now trying to take over the wizarding world. I didn't realise the effects of Darkness until Voldemort came back to full power last year. I figured since my father went to Hogwarts, it would be a safe place."

"How could I forget?"

"The Dark Lord believes that I would never betray him since I was with the Dark side since I was born. He thinks of me as his secret weapon."

"I understand that you are quite practiced in the art of Legilimency and Occlumency."

"It's in the blood; my father was an Occlumens, my mother is a Legilimens."

"Well isn't that interesting. I could never picture the Death Eaters raising a child. It's quite unnerving, don't you think?" Dumbledore asked with a chuckle.

"My mother taught me all the good she knew in an attempt to save me from the same fate as my father," clarified Valerie. The headmaster nodded thoughtfully.

"Does your mother know of this situation?"

"Of course, I'm aware of the fact that she will try to escape this July. Which is mainly why I'm here; for protection."

xxx

After Snape and the Beauxbatons girl left, Draco decided that if he had nothing else better to do, he might as well head back to the Slytherin common room.

Draco paced through various hallways before stopping in front of a wall.

"Salazar," he muttered and stepped into the common room. Crabbe and Goyle were seated on one of the leather sofas, waiting for him. Across from them were Blaise and Pansy, having a quiet conversation.

"Draco!" exclaimed Pansy, looking up.

"What is it, Parkinson?" replied Draco. He sank into the seat between Crabbe and Goyle.

"Did you hear about the new Beauxbatons girl here?" she asked.

"We overheard the Weasel talking about her in the hall. Apparently, she's a keeper," continued Blaise, smirking slightly.

"Actually, I did," stated Draco plainly, folding his arms across his chest. He already despised the girl, considering that Snape had chosen her over his most prized student (himself).

"And? Was she _stunning_?" asked Blaise eagerly, leaning forward. The black haired girl next to him rolled her eyes.

Draco pondered for a moment. "I didn't really see her face properly."

Blaise sat back in his original position, clearly disappointed. Pansy pursed her lips.

"What if she's put into Slytherin," mumbled Crabbe.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Draco, "She was wearing a Beauxbatons uniform."

"But she could have been a transfer student," suggested Pansy.

"Who transfers to Hogwarts a week before the OWLs start?" retorted Draco. Pansy fell silent.

"Let's go, its dinnertime anyway," said Crabbe, standing up.

"Leave it to you to remember exactly when our mealtimes are," laughed Pansy.

xxx

"I have to say, Miss Blackwater, you have been though the most extraordinary, yet tough, life. I have never in my 113 years heard of a Death Eater child. But you are not the only double spy I know," stated Dumbledore. "I will do the best within my power to provide you and your mother protection for the following months to come."

Valerie could feel the effects of the truth potion slowly fade away.

"But one last thing, Miss Blackwater," said Dumbledore.

"Any thing," answered Valerie.

"Simply out of curiosity, have you already learnt how to apparate and dissapparate?"

Valerie hesitated. The Dark Lord had advised her not reveal any more than necessary, but she had to get Dumbledore to trust her. "Yes, but I was instructed not to dissapparate unless it was a life threatening situation, with the Trace and Splinching and all."

The Headmaster chuckled. "It would be a pleasure to have you here at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, smiling wistfully. The girl nodded with a small smile. He rose from his chair and extended a hand out towards Valerie. She took it and shook firmly. "We will speak in the future about some things, though, and we will have to meet with the Order this coming holiday."

"Thank you, Headmaster. Thank you for everything; for the letter and for your trust," said Valerie.

"Yes, yes. You will start classes tomorrow; I will have your class schedule owled to you before the night is over. Now come, child, we must get you Sorted and fed."

xxx

Students slowly began to trickle into the Great Hall. Hermione took her seat between Ron and Lavender, across from Harry and Ginny. The boys were chattering away about Quidditch so Hermione turned towards Lavender.

"Lav, you're going to have to talk to him some time!" exclaimed Hermione. The couple had been fighting again because Ron 'looked at another girl'.

The Great Hall gradually became quiet and everyone looked towards the front at Dumbledore.

"It's not just that, Hermione," Lavender hissed in her ear, "You should have seen the way that he looked at her!"

Hermione was fed up. "Looked at _who_?" she snapped.

"I don't – oh Merlin, it's her!"

Lavender pointed towards a girl wearing a silky blue uniform – the Beauxbatons uniform – who was stepping up to be Sorted.

"Well, I can see why he was looking at her like that," admitted Hermione. The girl was very pretty; with her black hair and her eyes looked a very dark grey until they caught the light – they were blue.

"I hope she's not Sorted into Gryffindor," muttered Lavender the same time Ron sighed, "I hope she's Sorted into Gryffindor."

Lavender's jaw dropped and Hermione rolled her eyes.

xxx

Valerie stood with Snape to the side of the Great Hall, waiting for Dumbledore's address. Dumbledore stood before the many chattering students, waiting for them to stop talking.

"Greetings, the students of Hogwarts; I am very much _pleased_ to say that the fifth years have their OWLs 1 week from now," the old wizard announced.

Groans erupted in the Hall, mainly from what she supposed was the Griffindor table.

"Now, before we begin dinner, I'd like to introduce a new student, who will be joining the fifth years – Valerie Blackwater," Dumbledore gestured at the girl, motioning for her to come forward. McGonagall brought out a stool, on which was the Sorting Hat.

She remembered thinking when she saw the Sorting Hat for the first time: 'What an ugly little shit,' and as if the Hat could read her mind, the folds of fabric which were supposedly the Hat's eyes, narrowed at the approaching girl. Valerie felt the piercing stares of the other students, watching her as she sat down on the stool. Why wouldn't Dumbledore just let her do the Sorting in the privacy of his office?

At first, Valerie did not move until Snape gently prodded her in her back. "Don't expect any warm welcomes," he muttered quickly into her ear, squeezing her shoulder gently before pushing her forward.

She stumbled forward and sat down in front of the school.

'_Well well, isn't his interesting? You have the bravery of a Gryffindor, the wit of a Ravenclaw and the ambitiousness of a Slytherin. Although you do possess the qualities of a Hufflepuff, but I suppose people like you wouldn't want to be placed into a house with such...low class,' _hissed the Hat in her mind. Who knew that the Sorting Hat could bitch about another house? She turned her head slightly to look at Dumbledore who nodded encouragingly. _'I dare say that you are something special, Miss Valerie Blackwater, but you are not the only special one here. I see that you have a reason to be here, almost like a mission. There is one house that you must be put it for you to fulfil it.'_

Valerie's eyes were drawn to one of the four wooden tables. She briefly met eyes with a boy with fiery red hair, and the girl next to him, who had slightly bushy brown hair. Across from them sat the boy whose face she knew all too well – Harry Potter. Valerie could probably spot him in a large crowd since she _was_ trained to kill him ever since she was a baby, but the times have changed. Suddenly, her eyes were pulled away from that table and were brought to the table closest to the wall. One student who sat in the middle of it all and had a smirk plastered on his face, another face she recognized – Draco Malfoy.

Of course she knew Draco Malfoy. In fact, Valerie and her mother were well acquainted with Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy since they had been living in the Manor for quite some time now. Although the youngest Malfoy had no idea.

The Sorting Hat cleared its 'throat' and the student body of Hogwarts all turned to stare at the strange new Beauxbatons girl.

"Valerie Blackwater," the Hat drawled, "I place you in...Slytherin."

She heard murmuring and snickering fill the Great Hall and she rolled her eyes. Snape had told her to expect this and Valerie headed off towards the Slytherin table.

Whilst walking down the steps and towards the table, it hit Valerie that she had no idea where to sit. Prying stares followed her halfway down the aisle, but she held her head high (the pride and _graciousness_ of a Beauxbatons student) until a girl with shoulder length, straight brown hair caught her wrist.

"Hey, come sit with us," she said with a smile, moving aside to make room.

Valerie hesitated. "Uh, sure, thanks," she replied.

'_Oh hell, if she isn't friend material, I could always ditch her later,'_ thought Valerie before sitting down.

"Miss Blackwater is a new transfer student from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I hope that most of you will make her feel welcome," addressed Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. With that, Dumbledore left the podium and the plates in front of them filled with food.

Valerie watched the food appear on the table with a mildly amused expression.

"I'm Pansy Parkinson, and that is Blaise Zabini," the brown haired girl said, pointing to the dark skinned boy sitting on the other side of Valerie, "Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and Draco Malfoy."

Valerie hadn't bothered to see who was sitting across from them, so she _was_ very surprised to see the white-blonde haired boy sitting in front of her with an amused expression.

"Nice to meet you all," she said politely.

"And Draco?" added Pansy.

The white-blonde headed boy looked up, glaring at the brown haired girl.

"I _told_ you she was a transfer."


	3. Chapter Two: Morning Encounters

**Pairings: **Draco Malfoy/OC, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley.

**A/N:**

In this story, the following...

- ignore Dolores Umbridge and all events associated with her for now, LOL...

- Draco Malfoy doesn't become a Death Eater until the Christmas of his sixth year, so all that stuff with the mending of the Vanishing Cabinet and Dumbledore doesn't happen until after Christmas.

- The House Cup Tournament doesn't start until the beginning of sixth year, which will be in a few chapters from now. Just some transitional chapters to fill in some missing information.

- Also, this has not been beta-ed so please excuse any mistakes and tell me :S

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing here except for the storyline and the Blackwater's.

* * *

**Doubting the Dark: Chapter** **Two**

After dinner had finished, Pansy immediately looped her arm through Valerie's and lead her out of the Great Hall. Valerie looked at her new friend curiously.

"We're going back to our dormitories," Pansy explained. "You might want to remember the way from the Great Hall to where we're going now."

"I have a photographic memory, so I'll be fine," Valerie replied.

They stopped in front of a plain stone wall.

"Seriously?" said Valerie, her eyebrow raised.

"Don't be so cynical just yet, Blackwater," said a new voice.

"Draco, how nice of you to join us," Pansy said, smirking. Draco returned a smirk of his own.

"Salazar," he said, and the stone wall opened.

"This school and its damn passwords," muttered Valerie, stepping through the opening.

The room was decorated with silver and green, and there were various black leather plush chairs scattered around the room, with a few polished coffee tables. In one wall of the room was large fire place and on the opposite wall were two openings.

"Classy," said Valerie.

"Welcome to the Slytherin common room!" announced Pansy.

"We Slytherins are very high class," Draco remarked, walking past her and flopping down on one of the leather sofas, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle whilst Blaise sat across from them.

"The secret life of the Slytherin elites," said Blaise, leaning back.

"Anyway," Pansy steered Valerie towards one of the openings, which led to a few steps down to a long hallway. "This is the girls' bathroom."

She stopped at the first door, which had silver plaque on it reading 'Bathroom'. Pansy continued to steer her until they stopped in front of a black wooden door. Valerie peered further down the hallway and realised that all the doors looked the same.

"Don't worry, this door is the third one down to your right," laughed Pansy, pushing open the door.

There were three four-poster beds in a fairly spacious room. Like the common room, the dormitory was heavily decorated in green and silver. To the right of each of the beds was a night stand with various drawers.

'_Talk about house pride,'_ thought Valerie.

A girl with dirty blonde hair sat on the bed that was on the far left of the room. She looked up from her book and grinned, her green eyes twinkling.

"About time, Pansy, and this is the Beauxbatons girl, right?" the girl said, jumping off her bed to meet the two other girls. "I'm Daphne Greengrass. You must be Valerie Blackwater."

Daphne's eyes were a pale green with flecks of blue and brown in them. She extended a hand out to Valerie which she shook.

"I guess you're room-ing with us," stated Daphne, nodding and she returned to her bed. "And I suppose that's yours. It was already here before I came."

She pointed over at the bed that was on the far right. At the foot of the bed was her trunk, with a few sets of folded robes which she could safely assume were her new Hogwarts robes, and a long parcel wrapped in brown paper.

"Well, isn't this spacey," Valerie said.

"That's because the other dormitories are supposed to house up to four or five people," answered Daphne. "So, we're lucky and get the most personal space."

Valerie picked up the parcel almost gingerly and an envelope fell out. Carefully unfolding the letter inside:

_Valerie,_

_Trusting that this package has reached you safely and Daphne Greengrass or Pansy Parkinson has not already stuck her nose into it, I present you with a gift. I hear that there's an opening in the Slytherin Quidditch team – consult Miles Bletchley. No need to thank me. Also, we still have things to discuss about your tutoring on you-know-what._

_S.S._

Valerie rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Well, what is it?" insisted Pansy, nodding towards the package in the girl's hands. She shrugged. As Valerie tore the paper off, Daphne and Pansy moved closer, sitting on her bed. Daphne's mouth gaped slightly.

"That's..." murmured Daphne.

"The Nimbus 2005," finished Pansy, a smirk spreading on her face. "I saw the boys drooling all over it in Diagon Alley the other day."

The broom was a sleek black, its brand name embossed in silver on the top part of the broom. The footholds were also silver and the tail of the broom was deep brown which ended in a point with flecks of silver on the very end.

"It's so pretty," breathed the blonde girl. An owl tapped at the window near Valerie's bed. She passed the flying device over to Daphne for her to take a better look and opened the window. The bird dropped a folded piece of parchment into Valerie's hands and took off out the window again. It was her class schedule.

"That's slightly pointless since we only have a week left of lessons before OWLs start," said Pansy, reading the parchment over Valerie's shoulder. "And by the way, we have the same classes. That Dumbledore doesn't miss a beat for the world."

xxx

The next morning, Valerie was awake before any of the other girls, so she decided to wander around the Slytherin common room for a while.

After grabbing her wand from the night stand, she cast a concealing charm on the skull and snake that were imprinted on her arm. Valerie slipped out of their room and padded barefoot up the steps and into the common room. It hadn't really changed since the night before, except for the fact that the room was lighter and the fireplace was not lit. Pursing her lips, Valerie paced around, pausing only a few times to examine little things that had caught her interest. Valerie stopped completely, inspecting the Slytherin announcements board, which hung beside the fireplace.

'_Sign up for this, put your name down for that. This is ridiculous,'_ mocked Valerie inwardly.

"What are you doing?"

Valerie spun around. She rolled her eyes and smirked when she saw who it was.

"Well, good morning to you too, Blackwater," said Draco. He was sitting up on one of the leather sofas.

"Good morning sunshine," Valerie replied, folding her arms across her chest, "You look like hell."

Draco's hair was tussled and his robes and jumper were dumped on the floor at his feet, long forgotten. Pieces of parchment and quills are scattered on the glass coffee table. His clothes were rumpled and faint bags were under his stormy eyes. Even though he was disheveled, Draco still looked good.

'_If this is what Malfoy looks like in the morning, I wouldn't mind waking up next to...wait, no. That's disgusting,'_ Valerie thought.

"Did you...did you spend the night here?" asked Valerie. When he didn't answer she asked again, "Why?"

"When the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team is Graham Montague, who has currently been suspended from all games until his graduation because of violence and foul play, the title of captain was passed down to Miles Bletchley, a complete sod who can't do anything for himself. Our last game of the year is _this Saturday_, and we don't have a bloody game plan."

She waited for the boy to stop rambling and Valerie opened her mouth to say something before Draco cut her off.

"Not to mention that we're missing a team member. That's why I stayed up all night trying to work something out, to try and find another player, but everyone in our house is either to weak or can't fly. So, we can either play without a beater or without a keeper, since Bletchley is apparently experienced in both positions."

Draco raked a hand through his hair, messing it up even more.

"And we can't even think about forfeiting, because I'd rather die than forfeit to _Hufflepuff_."

"You finished, Malfoy?" the girl asked. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Yes."

"I can fill in, if you like."

Silence.

The blonde haired boy erupted into laughter. "Are you serious? Other girls hate Quidditch. With passion, I should add."

"Well I don't like being categorized into 'other girls'," Valerie bluntly stated. He stared at her. Embarrassed, she looked down at her feet and realised that she was still in her pyjamas. Her white camisole and silk pyjama pants were _not_ something she would want to be wearing during a conversation with Malfoy. She inwardly punched herself in the face, but instead peered up at Malfoy from under her lashes in an attempt to shield her pride. "And besides, what other option do you have?"

He lowered his gaze for a moment before meeting hers again. "Fine. You have one shot. Meet me at the Quidditch pitch before dinner and bring your broom."

Valerie hid a smug smile before hurrying back to her room.

"Hey, where were you? When we woke up, you weren't here," asked Pansy, pulling on her jumper.

"I was just taking an early morning stroll around the common room," Valerie replied vaguely, sifting through her pile of robes. In the pile were a long sleeve blouse, a short sleeve blouse, a black pleated skirt, a green and gray tie and scarf, a jumper and black robes – both adorned with the Slytherin crest. "Well, isn't this fashionable."

Daphne laughed, and hooked her arm around Valerie's shoulders.

"Get used to it, Blackwater. You're stuck with this uniform for another two years and three weeks."

xxx

"Good Merlin, Draco. You look like hell," said Blaise, who was adjusting his tie with his back to Malfoy.

"Shut up, Zabini. You're not the first person who's told me that," said Draco, dumping his robes on his bed.

"Did one of your nightly rendezvous go wrong?" Blaise said with a smirk.

"No. I ran into Blackwater this morning."

"What? The Beauxbatons girl?"

"All I can say is that she's a piece of work," Draco said, changing into a new shirt, a sly smile on his face. He remembered her face when she realised that he was behind her, and she has only clad in a camisole top that looked about two sizes too small and a pair of silk pants.

"Another girl on the Draco Malfoy sexy time list?" laughed his best friend, slapping him on the back. "I'll wait for you in the common room."

Blaise left with Crabbe and Goyle following behind him.

A few minutes later, Draco emerged from his dorm and entered the common room. Blaise stood uncomfortably close to the new girl, and almost smiled when she tried to lean back subtly.

"The Slytherin colours make your eyes look somewhat grey. It's peculiar, since I can clearly see that your eyes are a mysterious blue, Valerie," Blaise said in a low voice.

"Since when were we on first name basis, _Zabini_, and considering how _far away_ you're standing from my face, you'd be blind not to notice the 'mysterious blue' in my eyes," Valerie replied. She pushed him away slightly and caught sight of Malfoy standing nearby.

"Well, good morning to you too, Malfoy."

"Good morning sunshine," he replied with a smirk. She rolled her eyes at the déjà vu.

"Slytherins and their smirks," Draco heard her mutter before fleeing away from Blaise to join in a conversation with Pansy and Daphne. Draco grinned to himself. He was starting to like this girl.

"What are you so happy about?" said Blaise, obviously annoyed.

"You look like you just sat on a knife," laughed Draco.

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"It's not everyday a girl rejects the _irresistible_ charms of Blaise Zabini."

"Again, shut up, Malfoy. I doubt you could do any better. I bet if she can turn away my devilishly handsome good looks, it would be easy to turn down the great Draco Malfoy."

"Really now? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, Zabini?"

"First man to get to 2nd base. 5 galleons."

"It can't be against her will."

"I'm not a rapist monster. It's on."

"What are you two bickering about this time?"

The two boys turned to see who had spoken. Pansy stood in front of them with her hands on her hips, with a not so amused expression planted on her face. "Come on, let's go to breakfast."

xxx

After breakfast, the group had Charms first up.

"Are those staircases _moving_?" said Valerie.

"Anyone would think that you're a mudblood having their first taste of magic," snickered Draco.

"Shut up, Draco," said Pansy.

When they reached their classroom, Valerie laughed inside her head when she saw how the Slytherins and Gryffindors sat on opposite sides of the room.

Professor Flitwick had introduced himself to her politely enough and gave her a list of books she could revise from due to the upcoming OWL exams.

"The Headmaster has introduced a new protocol; inter-House partnerships in class," announced Flitwick. The class groaned. "So I will read out you and your partner's name, and you two will get to work on going over all the Charms we've done for the past 5 years."

"This is horrible!" exclaimed Pansy. "What if I end up with that filthy mudblood?"

"Brown and Crabbe, Longbottom and Malfoy, Potter and Greengrass, Granger and Parkinson, Patil and Bulstrode, Finnigan and Zabini, Thomas and Goyle, Weasley and Blackwater," called out the professor. The students reluctantly moved across the room to their new partners.

"Parkinson, it looks like someone took a shit on your face," said Malfoy.

"With the person I was paired up with, someone might as well have," grumbled Pansy.

xxx

Hermione glared at Pansy. She could have had at least the courtesy to pretend that she didn't mind.

"Okay, listen here, Granger. I don't like you, and you don't like me," started Pansy, sitting down in the seat next to hers.

"Wow, Parkinson, you're smarter than you look," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, mudblood. Let's just switch notes and fill in whatever is missing."

Pansy slid a bundle of parchment across the table whilst Hermione did the same. Assuming that their 'conversation' had ended, Hermione looked over at Lavender who tried to sit as far away from Crabbe as possible. Hermione laughed and gave her a sympathetic smile when the girl looked at her. Hermione turned back to the notes in front of her, reading them in her head.

_A charm is a type of enchantment that causes an object to behave in a way that is not otherwise normal for the object..._

She skimmed through the sentences and added a few more spells to Pansy's list of charms.

"Flawless as always, Granger," said Pansy. She gave her notes back to her before taking back her own and stalked away to sit with the new girl.

'_Her name was Valerie Blackwater, or something,'_ thought Hermione, resting her chin on her arms. She watched the black haired girl have a casual conversation with Ron.

'_She seems nice enough for a Slytherin. Maybe we could be friends,'_ No. Gryffindors did not become best buddies with Slytherins. It wasn't in their nature. Hermione shook her head _'But if we were to embrace the opportunity of inter-House friendships...'_

"Hey, Mione," called Ron. She looked up.

"Yes, Ron?"

"Come on over here!"

Hermione glanced over at Professor Flitwick. He was busy scribbling something down with a quill. Hermione shrugged and walked across the room to sit with Ron and the Beauxbatons girl. It was funny how most of the Gryffindors still called her that even though she wore the Hogwarts robes now. Pansy Parkinson sat on the other side of Valerie, with a dark look on her face. She sent a dirty glare at Ron and then Hermione before opening up her textbook and skimming through the pages.

"Hermione, this is Valerie Blackwater. Valerie, Hermione Granger," introduced Ron.

"Nice to meet you," said Valerie with a slight nod and a small smile that seemed forced.

"Likewise," replied Hermione. She probably knew that she was a mudblood.

"I have to go save Harry from Malfoy," muttered Ron, standing up and leaving.

"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why is that girl over there glaring at me?" Valerie asked meekly. Hermione looked past Valerie and saw Lavender shooting daggers into the back of Valerie's head.

"That's Lavender Brown, she's Ron's girlfriend."

"Oh." Valerie cleared her throat awkwardly and looked down at her notes.

Hermione laughed. She took the chance to observe the new Slytherin. She could see why Lavender would be worried that Ron may be drifting away – although beauty could be misleading. Valerie seemed nice enough but Hermione was smarter than to befriend a Slytherin so easily.

"Blackwater, what are you doing mingling with a mudblood?"

"I don't know, Ron. She's a _Slytherin. _She's probably got some hidden agenda," said Harry.

"But she's really nice!"

"But she's a Slytherin! That comes out on top every time. The Sorting Hat put her in that house for a reason."

Ron pondered on this for a moment.

"Get out of my way, Weasley," said Malfoy, shoving both of them out of the way.

"I rest my case," said Harry, smiling smugly. The red head gave his best friend a deadpan expression. "Look, I'm just saying not to trust her so easily. Beauty can be misleading."

"That's exactly what I thought," Hermione said, joining them. The two boys looked at her questioningly.

"Malfoy came over and asked why she was socializing with a..." Hermione hesitated, "...mudblood. She just rolled her eyes at him. Her exact words were 'Piss off, Malfoy, I can make my own friends,' before telling me she'd talk to me later and turned around to talk to Pansy."

Ron and Harry laughed, before Hermione joined in with them.

"Seems like somebody has finally come to put Malfoy in his place," said Harry.

"Too bad she was 5 years delayed," added Hermione. "But now, its time for Potions."

The boys groaned, and Hermione giggled and draped her arms around Harry and Ron's shoulders, leading them in the direction of the dungeons.

xxx

As the day progressed, Valerie got more and more fidgety.

"_Valerie Blackwater_, what's gotten in to you?" said Pansy, clearly exasperated. They were in their last class of the day, Transfiguration. They were going over how to turn water into rum and back again thanks to Seamus Finnigan.

When Valerie didn't answer, Pansy asked again. "Why are you so nervous? Its not like Hogwarts is that intimidating."

"I'm going to try out for the Quidditch team before dinner," said Valerie, waving her wand lazily over the cup, changing it into a bowl full of rum, to water, to a cup of water.

"What? Are you serious? That's great!" said Pansy, her eyes widening in excitement. She placed her wand on the table and turned towards her friend. "Although, I've never seen a girl play for the Slytherin team, but still, this is great!"

"So you said before, but that's exactly why I'm so...shaken."

"Don't worry about it, its not like they have a choice since the game is this Saturday. And besides, I'm sure you'll make a great..." Pansy furrowed her eyebrows.

"Beater or chaser," finished Valerie. Her friend looked at her blankly. "Beaters are the ones with the bats and chasers handle the Quaffle and try to score goals."

"Right!" Pansy laughed and Valerie shook her head in amusement.

"Hello ladies," said Blaise, turning around in his seat.

When they had walked into the classroom, Pansy led them to their seats in the back row, with Pansy and Valerie sitting in the corner, Blaise and Draco in front of them with Crabbe and Goyle to their left. Daphne and a girl called Millicent Bulstrode sat together in front of Crabbe and Goyle.

"What do you want, Zabini?" said Pansy, raising an eyebrow.

"What's this I hear about the new girl trying out for the Quidditch team?" replied Blaise with a smirk.

"What? Valerie Blackwater is trying out for the Quidditch team?"

Apparently, the red head sitting a few seats up had overheard their conversation. He turned around to face the Slytherins.

"Mind your own business, Weasley," spat Draco, turning around to face Pansy and Valerie as well.

"No wait, you can't let a girl try out for the Quidditch team!" said Ron, a ridiculous grin on his face. Hermione, who was sitting at the desk next the them, smacked Ron with a book.

"Merlin, Hermione! What was that for?"

"Ron! Your own sister is on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, how can you say something like that?" Hermione said, exasperated.

"Oh right, I forgot about Ginny..." he said. "But still, they can't be stupid enough to let a Beauxbatons girl onto the team. She's probably never even touched a broom in her life!"

"Shut it, Weasley, don't talk about me like I'm not sitting right here," said Valerie, narrowing her eyes at the red head. Even though they had talked a bit in Charms earlier that day, Valerie wasn't willing to get comfortable with a Gryffindor so soon. He was bearable but slightly annoying. Ron flushed, his entire face turning red and he turned around to face the front again. Harry, who sat next to him, snickered.

"Got something to say, Potter?" snapped Draco.

"Yeah, good luck winning against _Hufflepuff _without Montague. Maybe no one will be sent to the hospital wing this time."

"You should learn to shut that Potty mouth of yours, Potter, it never really got you very far. Didn't mommy ever teach you to mind your manners? Oh wait, she's dead!"

Valerie rolled her eyes and the other Slytherins snickered.

"Well anyway," said Blaise, turning back towards the two girls. "Are you trying out?"

"I guess so, is there a problem?" asked Valerie, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back on her chair.

"No, of course not," replied Blaise immediately, hearing the defensiveness in her voice. "I'm one of the chasers on the team, Crabbe and Goyle are the other two chasers. This guy called Adrian Pucey is one of the beaters and Bletchley is keeper."

"And I'm the godly seeker of Slytherin," added Draco.

"Yeah yeah," said Blaise, waving his hand. "That's besides the point. I think you'd be a great addition to the team."

Blaise smiled lopsidedly at Valerie, who assumed that it was supposed to be his 'charming' smile. Draco cleared his throat and stood up.

"Would you look at the time! Classes for the day are over, _let's go_," he said shoving all his books into his bag and swinging it onto his shoulder.

"Hey Draco, race you back to the common room. Loser has to go ask Snape for the keys to the Quidditch shed!"

With that, Blaise bolted off, Draco hot on his heels, cursing at his best friend's back. Pansy laughed and shook her head.

"I better head back as well, I've got to get my broom," said Valerie, putting her books away.

"I'll come with you, I want to see you fly!" Pansy exclaimed.

xxx

The trio left the classroom together to head back to the common room and Ron was slightly flushed.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Hermione. "Is it about Valerie?"

"I take back what I said before," muttered Ron. "She's a total bitch."

Harry opened his mouth to say something before Ron cut him off. "And Harry, if you say 'I told you so' I'll make sure you and Ginny never have children...and I'm pretty sure she wants a few of them."

Harry closed his mouth and Hermione hid a smile. They entered the Gryffindor tower through the portrait behind Lavender and Parvati who were gossiping quietly for a change.

"Sod off, Ron. Why don't you go and snog Lavender?" retorted Harry. Ron fell silent.

"Because she isn't talking to me."

"And whose fault is that?" teased Hermione, sitting down in front of the fireplace.

"Whatever," he grumbled.

About 10 minutes later, Pansy and Valerie walked onto the Quidditch pitch, chatting about the other houses.

"There's this guy called Neville Longbottom and he's absolutely obsessed with plants. Its so weird!" said Pansy. They caught sight of Blaise and Draco tossing a Quaffle at each other.

"I'm going to watch in the stands," Pansy said, touching Valerie's shoulder, "Good luck!"

"Hello there, Blackwater," said Draco, turning towards her. Suddenly, the Quaffle the boys had been playing with came towards her and lightning speed. It might have broken Valerie's nose if she hadn't dropped her broom and caught the Quaffle a fraction away from her face. She heard Blaise chuckle. Valerie lowered the Quaffle and threw it back at Blaise, who caught it easily.

"Fast reflexes, check," he said with a grin.

"With a _Quaffle_," said Draco, taking the said ball and placing it back into the chest. "Beaters need more than fast reflexes. Let's see your flying skills and then we'll see if its safe to unleash a bludger."

Valerie narrowed her eyes as the blonde boy turned away to mount his broom. She raised her hand over her fallen broomstick and it flew into her open palm. Her fingers grasped around the light wood of the handle and a small smile spread over Valerie's lips. She swung her leg over her broomstick and took a deep breath before kicking off from the ground.

Draco decided to do a lap around the pitch to clear his head. There was something strange about the Blackwater girl, something almost intriguing as if he'd met her once before – and Draco Malfoy never finds a girl intriguing. He scrunched his eyes closed and when he opened them, he was directly in front of one of the goal posts.

"What's gotten into you? Any further and you would have gotten a face full of goal post."

Startled, Draco almost toppled off his broom. When had the Blackwater girl appeared?

"Merlin, where did you come from? And where's Zabini?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow.

"I think he's sitting in the stands with Pansy."

"Those two...seriously," muttered Draco, running a hand through his hair. Valerie looked at him curiously. "Parkinson has had a crush on him since third year."

"Oh," she blinked. "Does he know?"

"Obviously not, he's too busy charming the pants off every girl in the school."

"Douche."

"Yeah, well, who cares, we've got things to do and not very long to do them. Do a lap around the pitch as fast as you can. I'll wait here and grow gray hairs," said Draco with a smirk, which Valerie mirrored mischievously before taking off.

He counted in his head, _"1 Dumbledore, 2 Dumbledore, 3 Dumbledore..._"

Approximately 7 and a half seconds later, Valerie was where she was 7 and a half seconds ago.

"Not bad, Blackwater, not bad at all," Draco said, a grin creeping onto his face. Valerie almost smiled. "But, as usual, I can always do better."

That almost smile disappeared instantly.

"You should pull that giant stick out of your ass, Malfoy," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Maybe then you'll have some real friends."

"We've known each other for barely a day and you're already insulting my ego. I like you!"

Valerie just shook her head in amusement.

"Moving on, _accio_ a beater's bat and I'll unleash one of the bludgers and then the other one. If you can get through this without falling off your broomstick then you're on the team," Draco instructed, pulling out his wand.

A few seconds later, Valerie gripped a bat in her hand and the handle of her broom in the other. Draco stared at her from across the field; the way the wind was blowing her hair back and the way that she just shook her head to avoid the tendrils that blew into her face. He blinked and shook his head quickly.

Whatever, Draco. She's just a girl.

He pointed his wand at the chest which lay 10 feet below them. The lid burst open and Draco allowed one bludger to escape before swiftly locking the chest again. Draco watched her carefully as she braced herself for the flying terror.

Valerie swung the bat, landing a solid blow at the bludger, sending it back towards the direction it came from. Draco flicked his wand out at the chest again, unleashing the other bludger. The first one made a U-turn in the air and headed straight on towards Valerie. She leaned forward on her broom, speeding forward and hitting the first bludger once more.

The second bludger came at her almost a split second after the first one, and with the same swing, Valerie belted the second bludger all the way across the pitch.

"Now that we can see that you can handle a couple of bludgers, can you aim straight?" Draco said. He had to yell since she had put quite some distance between them, since she was circling the pitch, waiting for the bludgers to come back at her. Valerie looked over her shoulder and shot a grin (that shouldn't be trusted) at Draco, before flying towards another bludger. With a loud crack, she nailed the bludger straight through the middle hoop of the goals.

Muttering a charm, the bludgers stopped in their tracks and dropped to the ground and he flew over to her. When Draco reached her, she was pushing her hair away from her face. Valerie looked up at him, her cheeks are flushed and the blue in her eyes more dominant that usual, and she smiled. Draco almost melted. It was the first real smile he had seen from her in 20 or so hours, but it was all the same. He shook his head.

"_No, you're only attracted to her because you have to win the bet. Think of the bet – you can't lose to Blaise,"_ he thought furiously.

"That was fun," she chirped, swinging the bat casually. "Do you think Bletchley will let me on the team?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you've got the spot," Draco breathed, blinking wildly.

* * *

Review? :)


	4. Chapter Three: Veritaserum Truths

**Pairings: **Draco Malfoy/OC, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Blaise Zabini/Pansy Parkinson.

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter was rushed...  
**

In this story, the following...

- ignore Dolores Umbridge and all events associated with her for now, LOL...

- Draco Malfoy doesn't become a Death Eater until the Christmas of his sixth year, so all that stuff with the mending of the Vanishing Cabinet and Dumbledore doesn't happen until after Christmas.

- The House Cup Tournament doesn't start until the beginning of sixth year, which will be in a few chapters from now. Just some transitional chapters to fill in some missing information.

- Also, this has not been beta-ed so please excuse any mistakes and tell me :S

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing here except for the storyline and the Blackwater's.

* * *

**Doubting the Dark: Chapter Three  
**

The next morning, as the group sat down to breakfast, a very pissed off looking boy with light brown hair came up behind Draco and smacked him in the head with the morning's paper. He choked on his toast.

"Malfoy!"

Draco wiped his mouth with his sleeve before sending a hateful glare over his shoulder at the boy.

"What do you want, Bletchley?"

"The match against Hufflepuff is this Saturday – which, mind you, is in less than three days – and we still don't have a beater!" Bletchley shouted, narrowing his eyes, ignoring the stares of fellow Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws.

"Maybe if you were a better captain, we wouldn't have to worry about this!" Draco shouted back, standing up to face him properly. Draco didn't appreciate it when someone interrupted his meal times. "But since only one person can actually get something done around here, which is me, I've already taken care of it."

Bletchley was then aware of the people staring at the pair. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

"What? When? And, more importantly who?"

"I put her through a trial yesterday."

"'Her'?"

Draco ignored him and continued. "She has great potential and Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle either don't care or don't mind, so I don't think Pucey will either."

He glanced over at Valerie, who was listening to Pansy talk about the professors of past and present ("In second year, Gilderoy Lockhart taught at Hogwarts! All the girls in the class would swoon...") whilst stirring the cereal around in her bowl until it was mushy.

Draco turned back to Bletchley, who was making a feeble attempt to look threatening. Although Miles was tall, he was lanky, where as Draco was slightly taller and had a more firm build.

"But why a _girl_? She'll get knocked off her broom if someone shoves into her!"

"So would you, Bletchley."

The brown haired boy fell silent. He exhaled loudly. "Who is it?"

"The Beauxbatons girl."

He raised an eyebrow, but bit back a snide reply when he saw Draco's expression.

"Fine, whatever," Bletchley said. "But if we lose against _Hufflepuff_, she's off the team."

The captain stalked off down the aisle, stopping to talk to Pucey. Draco rolled his eyes and sat down next to Blaise, picking up a new piece of toast.

"Blackwater," Draco called, taking a bite out of the sliced bread. She turned her head to look at him. "You're on the team, congratulations."

He stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth and Valerie raised her eyebrows at him in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Valerie, that's great news!" exclaimed Pansy.

"We better win," added Draco, reaching across the table to grab an apple. "Because if we don't, both of us are screwed, and not in the way I'd like."

xxx

The day progressed slowly for Valerie, each class seeming to drag on longer than the last. When they trudged down the stairs to the dungeons for their last class of the day. Snape had already enforced the 'inter-House partnerships' the day before, so Valerie automatically took the seat next to Hermione (to Pansy's dismay, she had been paired with Ron).

"Hello," Valerie said politely to the bushy haired girl, dropping her bag under the desk.

"Hi, Valerie," Hermione replied, looking at her. "Is it true you've made the Slytherin Quidditch team?"

"Yes."

"I see."

Hermione turned away. "I told you so, Ronald!" she shouted across the room. Suddenly, the red head came bustling over. Ron stood in front of Valerie's desk, both palms on the table.

"Seriously? Is it true?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Mister Weasley, sit _down_, 10 points from Gryffindor," said Snape, walking into the dungeon. A few Gryffindors groaned. "Turn to page 394."

The students hurried to take their books out. Valerie flipped to the said page. Draught of Peace, lovely.

"We are re-doing this potion because some of you," he paused the glare at Harry and Ron, "Failed the first time. If you successfully brew this potion with your partner, I will allow you to keep it because of the upcoming OWL examinations," Snape said, narrowing his eyes at the class. "You have until the class ends."

The professor turned away to sit at his desk without another glance.

"Well, I'll collect the ingredients, you can set up the cauldron," instructed Hermione. Doing as she said, Valerie stood up and went to the back of the classroom to retrieve a cauldron and burner. Following the general direction where everyone else was heading, so she easily found what she was looking for.

"So, are you good at potions?" Hermione asked once Valerie had lit the cauldron with the tip of her wand.

"I can follow instructions without anything exploding or dying," replied Valerie, running a finger down the page of the book, skimming through the instructions.

"Well that's good enough for me," Hermione said with a chuckle. "It's a nice change."

"Isn't Potter good at potions?"

Valerie took the small cup of powdered moonstone and tipped it into the cauldron.

"_Harry_, is half-decent at potions, its just he's too busy messing around with Ron to pay attention."

"Either that or he just hates Snape," Valerie said.

Hermione began to line up the ingredients in order along the table which Valerie began to add to their mixture. Hermione started to make small talk, telling her stories of incidents and adventures that she had at Hogwarts. Valerie just listened, nodding and smiling every now and then.

"You know in third year, Malfoy was attacked by a hippogriff," she said, after Valerie had stirred the potion 7 times both ways. Her head snapped up.

"Really?" Oh, she was very interested now.

"It was quite funny. Hey, don't forget to lower the heat," advised Hermione as she was about to add the final ingredient.

A few minutes later, both Hermione and Valerie peered into their cauldron. A light silver vapour wafted from the turquoise coloured liquid. Snape stalked over to their table, also peering in.

"Well done, Miss Granger and Miss Blackwater. 10 points to Gryffindor and 10 points to Slytherin," he said before stalking off again to scrutinise another student's potion.

"I guess we should bottle this up," Valerie suggested, wrinkling her nose at the potion. Hermione nodded in agreement and went to go look for some vials.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a puddle of blue liquid surrounding a guilty looking Neville Longbottom and an annoyed Vincent Crabbe.

"Longbottom, you have just earned yourselves a week's detention. Clean this up. Class dismissed."

xxx

"Class dismissed."

Ron immediately pushed all his books into his bag and made his way over to Hermione, who was talking to Valerie. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair before walking over to their table.

"Hello Hermione, Valerie," he said, grinning slightly.

Valerie looked at him with a blank expression. She blinked once and turned to Hermione. "I'll see you later. Thanks for the book recommendations," she said before walking away and leaving the dungeon.

Ron stared after her, his mouth gaping open.

"Close your mouth, Ronald, its disturbing," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"It's so weird! She's like hot one minute and cold the next!" he said, staring off into space. "She's all friendly with you and when I come over, she acts like I'm a weird stranger!"

"Why do you care so much, Ron?" she replied. Hermione shoved her books and sheets of parchment into her bag.

"I'm only asking why she's best mates with you and wants nothing to do with me!"

"Maybe _this_ is why," Hermione spat, slamming her last book on the table. Ron took a step back. "What's wrong with me having a friend?"

With that, Hermione stormed off. It was like he was repelling all females. First, Lavender, then Valerie and now Hermione.

"Bloody hell," Ron breathed.

xxx

That night, just before the girls went to bed, there was a tapping at the window. Daphne, who was brushing her hair, was the closest so she opened the latch and an owl flew inside and landed on Valerie's bed. She looked up from her book ("Hogwarts, A History", recommended by Hermione).

Valerie peered at the owl curiously; it wasn't a familiar looking owl. It was small and gray with slightly fluffy feathers which made it look fatter than it probably was. The owl stared at her with its round eyes, and it cocked its head sideways. It seemed to think that Valerie wasn't a threat and hopped onto her knee.

"Oh my Merlin, is that yours?" squealed Pansy. She came around and sat on the edge of Valerie's bed.

"I haven't the foggiest whose it is," replied Valerie. She unattached the letter that was tied to the owl's leg. There was also a small package.

_Valerie –_

_I hope that you have reached Hogwarts safely and that you have settled in and made friends. This is Pigeon. He's an owl, but he's called Pigeon. He's cute, right? Think of him as a 'Welcome to Hogwarts even though its a few days late' present from me._

_Enjoy yourself at Hogwarts, I know your father and I did. Don't stress out too much from OWLs, but good luck! _

_Love, from Mom. _

_P.S. Also, He has instructed for you to come back to the Manor this holidays. He would like updates on your progress with you-know-what and that it will be removed on your 16__th__ birthday._

She tucked away her letter and turned to Pansy, who was petting the owl. Valerie unwrapped the package; it was a box of owl treats. Lovely.

"His name is Pigeon," Valerie said. She offered an owl treat the to bird, and he took it willingly. "You better not do anything nasty on my bed."

Later that night, Valerie was awoken. She was lying on her side something was touching her exposed ear. Slowly, she withdrew her wand from under her pillow and whipped around. A black barn owl fluttered away in surprise. It was nibbling on her ear to get her awake.

"These bloody owls are going to be the death of me," she muttered, and took the folded note from the bird. It hopped onto her night-stand, waiting and watching. Valerie glanced at the time. Who in their right mind would be sending her something at 4AM? Scowling, she opened the note.

_My Dearest V, if you want some fun, meet me in the prefect's bathroom (password: spearmint) as soon as you get this. – D._

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag from the floor, rummaging for a quill. Finally finding one, Valerie hastily scrawled a reply on the back of the note.

_D, sod off, its bloody 4AM. – Your Dearest V._

She then gave the note back to the black owl before rolling over to go back to sleep.

xxx

In the morning, Draco was pissed off. Royally. He stormed into his dormitory slamming cupboards and drawers, and almost punched a hole through the mirror until Blaise talked to him.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" he asked with a snicker. Draco didn't answer and just yanked his tie on.

"Fine, whatever," Blaise muttered. They met up with the girls in the common room to head up to breakfast together.

He sent furious glares at her through out the day when he thought that she wasn't looking. After the latest glare, near the end of Potions, Valerie caught his gaze. She looked at him, almost mockingly before whispering something to Pansy.

Draco grit his teeth. This was unnatural behaviour for him anyway. He should just let it slide.

"_Yes, who cares. Any girl in Hogwarts would kill to spend the night with me,"_ Draco thought, nodding.

"_But not the one you want..."_ said a smaller voice in his head.

"_Shut up,"_ he snapped. He was going crazy. Draco looked up as Valerie was peering over her shoulder at him. She winked.

"Bloody hell," Draco muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, _now_ I get it..." Blaise said, seeing the exchange. "She turned you down, didn't she?"

Draco glared at his best friend while Blaise looked triumphant.

"I have the perfect strategy!" Blaise exclaimed.

"What?"

"I'm not telling you."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"

"Because it's my strategy, not yours. And besides, _you_ need to get the booze for tonight."

"Booze for what?" chirped Pansy. Valerie was at her side, looking bored, avoiding Draco's glares. Snape had dismissed them for the day and people were already rushing from the damp dungeon.

"Have you forgotten?" asked Blaise. Pansy gave him a blank look. "Today's the last day of classes before OWLs start, and remember at the start of this year?"

Now everyone was giving him blank looks.

"Obviously not, I've only been here for about four days," Valerie said.

"No one asked you, Blackwater," said Draco, _still_ glaring.

"Finally decided to talk with your mouth and not with your pathetic glares?" she replied, scowling.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who stood me up!" Draco said, voice raising.

"It was bloody 4AM! Only a desperate slut would have shown up!"

Draco stood up from his seat. "That's why I was so surprised that _you_ didn't show!"

"Are you implying that I'm a slut?"

"So what if I am?"

"The only slut around here is you! Man-whore!"

Draco opened his mouth to retaliate, Blaise interrupted.

"Before you two start having your lover's quarrel, I believe that we were in the middle of discussing something."

"We're not having a lover's quarrel!" both Draco and Valerie exclaimed. Blaise rolled his eyes and Draco huffed. He grabbed Valerie by the wrist and dragged her out of the room.

"We'll see you guys at dinner, then," called Pansy, a smirk forming on her face. A few seconds later, they heard muffled shouting outside. Blaise shook his head.

"Is this the bit were we lock them in a broom cupboard so that they talk about their differences and when we come back for them later, they'd be making out in a compromising position?"

"Yep," replied Blaise. Pansy grinned. "But I don't think that's a very good idea because both Draco and Valerie seem like the kind of people who could use an Unforgivable without hesitating."

Pansy's face fell. She shrugged. "It was a good idea, at the time_._ But anyway, what's happening tonight?"

Blaise chuckled. "Its going to be one hell of a night."

She raised her eyebrows in response.

"But first we need to get a little something from Snape's stores."

xxx

"Let go of me!"

Valerie twisted her wrist free, rubbing at the red circle he'd imprinted on her skin. The blonde boy whipped around and shoved her roughly against a wall, his forearm above her head and his hand next to her face.

"I am _not _man-whore," he said begrudgingly, his icy eyes meeting her dark ones.

"If it talks like a duck and walks like a duck," she replied, scowling. Valerie could feel his heavy breathing on her face, his nostrils flaring slightly.

"No one turns down Draco Malfoy."

"Well, there's a first time for everything,"

He leaned away, stepping back, but Valerie's hand shot out and grabbed his tie, pulling him towards her again.

"Does it make you angry?" she said, a hint of pleading in her voice, but there was a fierceness in her eyes that sent pleasant shivers down his spine, making his breathing even heavier.

"Is Draco angry because I turned him down?"

She pulled him closer still, their noses almost touching, but she did not meet his gaze. His heart hammered in his chest. Draco moved forward, his hands on her waist, drawing their bodies closer. He tilted his head forward out of instinct, to make their lips meet.

"Because Draco Malfoy always gets what he wants, doesn't he?" she whispered almost tauntingly, her lips brushing against the corner of his mouth.

"Tease," Draco muttered. Her lips ghosted across his cheek before stopping at his ear.

"_Levicorpus_."

Draco's eyes widened as a magical force suddenly took a hold of his ankle and hoisted him into the air.

"HEY!" he yelled, his robes falling over his face.

"Oh, how I love wandless magic," Valerie said with a sigh, leaning against the wall and folding her arms across her chest.

"Let me down right now! I AM THE SLYTHERIN SEX GOD!"

"Keep telling yourself that, it might come true."

"IS IT SAFE TO GO GO OUTSIDE YET?"

Valerie looked over towards the door, where Pansy and Blaise were peeking out. Seeing that it was "safe", they stepped out. The moment Pansy saw Draco dangling upside down in the air, she burst out into a fit of giggles.

"Nice view, Drakey?" teased Blaise, grinning.

"Shut up and help me down!" Draco exclaimed, his face pink. He flapped his arms uselessly.

Blaise pulled out his wand. "_Liberacorpus._"

The blonde boy landed in a heap on the ground with a thud, which caused Blaise the break out into laughter along with Pansy. Draco sat up, a sour look on his face and his hair messed up.

"Stop your laughing!"

He glared over at Valerie, who soon started to laugh as well, sliding down to sit on the floor. The next victim of his fury was Pansy, but her and Blaise were clutching onto to each other for support.

But laughter was contagious.

Soon, the four of them walked to the Great Hall, where the majority of the school was already waiting for dinner to be served.

"Seriously Draco, you should have seen your face!"

xxx

Valerie skimmed through a page on the history of the founders of Hogwarts, pursing her lips. Everyone hates Slytherin because its founder was prejudiced. But that was hundreds of years ago. What ever happened to a fresh start?

Daphne and Pansy were rattling on about muggle and wizarding beauty products.

"So you're saying that there's another way to straighten your hair without a potion?" Daphne asked, eyes wide.

"I think so, I heard some Hufflepuff third years talking about it."

"Its true, in the muggle world, they call it a hair straightener," said Valerie, closing her book. "It's ingenious." She rolled her eyes.

"That's _so_ cool," said Daphne.

_'Pure-blood snobs,'_ Valerie thought, shaking her head and a smile ghosted across her lips.

"By the way, Pansy," asked Valerie. "What is happening tonight? You and Blaise were gossiping like 13 year old girls."

"Oh! Is it happening tonight?" Daphne said, her green eyes growing wider. Valerie huffed impatiently. Pansy opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted but three knocks on the door.

"Val, we would tell you, but you're going to find out, like, now," said Pansy, grinning. She bounded to the door and opened it to reveal Blaise.

"Hello ladies," he said, stepping inside. He was dressed in a white wife-beater and baggy cotton pants. Valerie furrowed her eyebrows. "Draco will be here soon. He just went to pick up the goods."

Blaise winked at Pansy, who blushed profusely and turned away.

"Okay, put the beds together," Blaise instructed. Pansy levitated any objects and furniture between the three beds as Daphne magicked the beds together.

"So what exactly is happening? And how did you get into the girls' dormitories?" Valerie asked, her eyes narrowed. Everyone had been avoiding her questions.

"They don't call Slytherins cunning for no reason," Blaise said, amusement twinkling in his eyes. He put his hands on Valerie's shoulders. "Don't you worry about anything."

Blaise tapped her nose and walked away. And then Draco walked in. He was holding a small backpack in one hand, a smirk on his face. The other three people in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at the blonde boy.

"Do you have it?" Blaise asked. Draco nodded. "Lock the door."

Draco pulled his wand out of his pocket and performed a locking charm as well as a silencing charm on the door. Finished, he headed over to the rest of the group who were sitting on the magically conjoined bed.

Valerie sighed and shrugged. She'd probably find out what was happening soon enough.

"I take it that you didn't invite Bulstrode, Crabbe or Goyle?" Draco asked, plopping himself down between Daphne and Valerie.

"The last time we did, they got so drunk that their hangover lasted for days," replied Blaise. "And when any of them are drunk or hungover, they're damn scary."

The five of them were arranged on the beds in a spacey circle (Blaise had enlarged the beds slightly for more "leg room"), with Pansy and Draco on either side of Valerie, Blaise on the other side of Pansy and Daphne in between Blaise and Draco. The backpack was in Blaise's lap.

Valerie glanced at the clock above the door, it was 9:30PM.

"Now, the moment of truth," Blaise said solemnly. Pansy rolled her eyes.

He unzipped the bag painfully slowly.

"Oh, get on with it, you git," Daphne said, slapping his shoulder. Blaise chuckled and opened the bag fully. Reaching inside, he pulled out seven bottles and a few shot glasses, one at a time, placing them in the middle. The first five bottles were bottles of Butterbeer, and the last two were a bottle of a brown coloured liquid that had a tinge of red and a bottle of something that looked like water.

"Firewhiskey and vodka – I'm impressed, Draco," Daphne said, nodding in approval.

"And on top of it all..." Blaise announced, pulling a small bottle out of his pocket. "Veritaserum."

Valerie inwardly groaned. She'd had more of that potion in a week than normal people would have in their lives. But instead, she said, "I can't believe you got that without having your fingers chopped off by Snape."

"Like I said, Blackwater, we weren't put into Slytherin for nothing," said Blaise. When Valerie said nothing in return, he continued to speak. "Well anyway, I guess I better explain what's happening before I get hexed."

They all nodded, so Blaise continued. "Tonight, we are celebrating the last day of classes for this year. Sort of like pre-OWL celebrations."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "So you asked me to get hard liquor?"

Blaise smiled nervously.

"We have a Quidditch game tomorrow, and if we lose because three members are drunk off their asses, its on your hands," said Draco sternly, before breaking out into a grin.

"Drinking games? Seriously?" Valerie said, blinking.

"Why not?" Daphne asked from across the circle.

"At Beauxbatons, the only time the girls would stay up late to do anything was to either gossip or reapply face masks."

Daphne laughed. "Welcome to the Slytherins of Hogwarts. Although Gryffindors are known to throw the best ragers, Slytherins know how to have a good time."

Blaise started to fill the glasses, each had ½ a shot of Firewhiskey and ½ a shot of vodka, and one drop of Veritaserum. He then passed them around the circle.

"We'll do the Slytherin's signature game – Veritaserum Truths, because we can't risk doing dares tonight, but first, a toast!" Blaise said, raising his glass into the air.

"To Valerie Blackwater, the newest addition to the Slytherin house," Pansy finished, also raising her glass.

Everyone in the circle had raised their glass and were watching her expectantly. Valerie shook her head but smiled slightly.

"Thank you," she said, and they all downed the liquid.

The alcohol burned a path down her throat, but as it settled in her stomach, it began to feel oddly pleasant. But she had to be careful to not let any important information slip.

"How about a quick icebreaker?" Draco asked from beside her, a lazy grin on his face. "First impressions?"

"Oh oh, me first!" Pansy squealed. "Okay, Draco was hot, Daphne was dumb blonde..."

Daphne looked offended for a moment before she started laughing. "I get that a lot."

"Blaise was handsome and Valerie was _really_ pretty!"

"Hey, how come I was the only one who got something insulting?" Daphne asked, pouting. "That's not very nice."

At the end of that round, Valerie had dished out; prat (Draco), talkative (Pansy), snob (Daphne) and quiet (Blaise). She had achieved the following adjectives; really pretty (Pansy), interesting (Daphne), mysterious (Blaise) and a Beauxbatons snob (Draco – _"I really hope that's changed Malfoy, because I wouldn't mind to _Levicorpus_ your ass again"_).

xxx

The night progressed slowly, the group was on the line between tipsy and drunk. Soon, everyone was sprawled out on the triple bed, trying to get more comfortable.

"Hmm," Blaise mumbled, swishing the liquid around in his glass dangerously.

"Oi, be careful," said Daphne, pointing an accusing finger at him, her speech slightly slurred. "We washed the bed sheets just last week!"

"What is your biggest secret at this moment?" asked Blaise, looking around at everyone. Blaise refilled everyone's glasses with the now routine Firewhiskey, vodka and one drop of Veritaserum. Valerie was propped up against the headboard of the bed, with Draco's head in her lap, who looked very happy but sleepy at the same time. The black haired girl didn't seem to mind. She even fed Draco his shot since he wouldn't sit up.

"My biggest secret is that..." Daphne began, pursing her lips. "That I'm still a virgin."

Draco scoffed. "I find that incredibly hard to believe."

"Whatever, Draco, just because you've jumped everything that has boobs and two legs," retorted Daphne. She glanced at Valerie and grinned. "Well, almost everything."

"Shut up, Greengrass. Go have sex in a broom cupboard."

"You would know, wouldn't you Malfoy?" Valerie said airily. He glared up at her but she just smiled. "What's your secret, hotshot?"

"My secret is," he began, looking away from Valerie's blue eyes. "I like a girl who hates me –"

"'Hate' is such a strong word..." interrupted Pansy, grabbing the bottle of Firewhiskey from Blaise.

"_Strongly dislikes_, then," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "But I really can't help it, she's amazing. But she hexed me today."

There was an awkward silence. "Okay...Pansy?"

Pansy downed her shot and took a deep breath.

"IaminlovewithBlaiseZabini."

Draco snorted and Pansy took a long swing from the bottle of Firewhiskey. Blaise was examining the back of the Vodka bottle intensely.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," Daphne said, her nose scrunching.

"Too bad, I'm not saying it again," Pansy sniffed. "Valerie, what's your secret?"

Valerie took the shot, hardly noticing the burn since her throat was already numb.

"I am a..."

Draco watched her carefully; her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as if she stopped herself from saying the wrong thing, and resumed talking as if nothing had happened.

"I am a half-breed, half-blood, whatever you would like to call them."

They gasped.

"Please tell me you're not a half goblin, 'cause that would be really nasty," Daphne said, shuddering.

"No, I'm part veela," Valerie replied.

"Well that's okay, I guess. How many parts?" asked Blaise.

"I don't know. Something like my great great great great great grandmother was a veela," she explained. "That's probably why I don't look like Fleur Delacour – the fair hair and light eyes. Its the only reason why all the females in the family are considered half-bloods, everyone else is a pure-blood."

"Good Merlin, I thought you were going to tell us you were half of something disgusting as well as part muggle, but technically, your blood is all pure," said Pansy, smiling. "It explains a lot, actually."

"If you're worried about others looking down on you for being a fraction of a half-breed, don't sweat it, you're basically a pure-blood anyway," Daphne said.

Valerie just shrugged and tipped her head backwards to lean against the headboard. The alcohol was getting to her head.

"It would be amazing if we'll be able to fly straight tomorrow," she groaned. Having the sudden need to lie down, she shoved Draco's off her lap. He yelped in protest.

"Hey! I was comfortable!" he exclaimed.

"But I'm not," Valerie replied, shifting herself so that she was lying on her stomach next to Pansy. Who had passed out. "Man, she is _wasted_."

"Oh well, Pansy won't get to hear my secret, then," Blaise said.

The three remaining people looked at him expectantly.

"The only reason why I'm all for being Slytherin's playboy is because I've been trying to forget _her_," he said, nodding towards Pansy. "Its the only reason why I made the bet, Draco."

"What bet?" asked Daphne suspiciously.

"You don't need to know!" Draco said, immediately sitting up.

"It was a stupid bet!" Blaise said at the same time.

Daphne and Valerie exchanged glances.

"Tell us now and we'll forgive and forget about it and blame it on the alcohol," Daphne reasoned sternly. Blaise shot a look over at Draco, who peered nervously at Valerie.

"Whatever it is, please spit it out because its," Valerie glanced at the clock. "3AM, we have a Quidditch game tomorrow and I feel like I'm going to pass out."

Not waiting for Draco's approval, Blaise started to ramble. "A few days ago Draco and I made a bet to see who could get to 2nd base with Valerie first. But I don't want to do it any more."

"Isn't that _pleasant_," Daphne snorted, and giggled. "Boys are so stupid."

"I'm sorry, Valerie," Blaise said, hanging his head.

"That's alright," Valerie said. "I knew you guys were assholes to begin with anyway."

* * *

Review? And should I change the rating to M?


	5. Chapter Four: Awkward Encounters

**WARNING: **A crappy Quidditch scene, an awkward Harry/Ginny scene and a somewhat rushed chapter (which is ridiculous because it took so long to write).

**A/N: **I'm sorry for the long wait, and I'm sorry, you won't be seeing the House Cup Tournament until Chapter 5 or 6 or something T_T I'M SORRY. Please review! Or tell me if I've made any mistakes because this has not been beta-ed.

* * *

**Doubting the Dark: Chapter ****Four**

The sun streaming through the open curtains shone on Valerie's face, rudely awaking her from a comfortable sleep, enveloped by something warm and solid.

_'Why is the sun so bloody bright and shiny?'_ she thought furiously.

She tried to sit up, but found that something (someone) had anchored her to the bed. Looking down, Valerie saw a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Warm and solid. Well shit. Shit. Bloody _shit_. Valerie looked over her shoulder and saw a sleeping Draco Malfoy. Her eyes widened. The sheets only covered up to their waists, so she peeked under them, letting out a huge breath of relief when Valerie saw that they both were still wearing their bottoms.

As Valerie wiggled out of his arms (a death grip, really), Draco moaned softly but didn't wake up. She shook her head and stood up. All the alcohol she had drunk last night hit her in the head and Valerie almost fell over, but gripped onto the night-stand to steady herself. After the head-rush had passed, Valerie stood up straight and peered around the room, the beginnings of a horrible migraine forming in her head. Pansy and Blaise were still asleep.

"I was wondering when to wake you guys up but you and Draco looked so adorable!" Daphne said. She was sitting at her vanity, wearing a pair of shorts and tight fitting t-shirt. Valerie rolled her eyes at her and looked at the clock. It was midday.

Blaise was starting to stir, he groaned loudly and then sat up.

"My head..." he groaned. He looked at Pansy beside him, who was also starting to wake up.

"Zabini, what time does the match start?" Valerie asked, running her hand through her hair.

"1PM," he replied, slowly getting out of bed.

"And what time is it now?"

He peered at the nearest clock. "MERLIN'S SHIT, IS THAT THE TIME?"

"Ugh, don't yell so early in the morning. My head hurts," mumbled Pansy, sitting on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands.

"Its not morning anymore, its the BLOODY AFTERNOON."

Now everyone was fully awake, except for Draco. Blaise was pacing back and forth near the door, trying to walk off his hangover – clearly unsuccessfully, since he wasn't pacing in a straight line.

"It's literally _impossible_ to wake that guy up," Daphne said, nodding towards the bed. "He sleeps like the dead."

Valerie noticed that the beds had separated. Her eyes widened. "Is that my bed?" she asked, turning to her blonde friend who nodded. She picked up her wand from the floor ("Now, how did that get there...") and went over to Draco and prodded him in the side. He didn't move. And then Valerie had a bright idea.

Leaning over him, she said into his ear, "Malfoy, you have to wake up now. Wake up now! THERE'S A HIPPOGRIFF! THERE'S A HIPPOGRIFF IN THE ROOM!"

Draco shot up immediately, wand out in front of him. "WHERE'S THE BLOODY CHICKEN?"

Luckily Valerie had withdrawn quickly enough to avoid having her eyes scraped out. He soon realized that there was no hippogriff when he saw Valerie was standing beside the bed, a grin playing on her lips. But Blaise snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Draco Malfoy, we have a game in an hour, breakfast is over and I don't think Valerie has Quidditch robes," Blaise said, who had stopped pacing. "And I'm pretty sure the three of us will be flying with bad hangovers."

"That's where I step in," Daphne announced, standing up, twirling her wand in one hand. "While you guys were sleeping like babies, I went to ask the seventh years if they knew any hangover charms, and lucky for you, they did! That's why I'm not walking around like a drunk."

They all stared at her in a stunned silence.

"Wow, Daphne Greengrass has actually done something _useful,_" breathed Draco. He turned to Blaise. "As for Quidditch robes, Snape gave them to me yesterday, but I forgot to bring them last night. And breakfast, we can just grab something for the kitchens on our way."

"In that case," Valerie said, "Daphne, work your magic."

xxx

"Pucey and Blackwater, if anyone wearing yellow gets in your way, just do the usual: aim a bludger at their heads," instructed Bletchley.

They were gathered in a circle in the Slytherin's Quidditch team strategy room (a small room under the stands), waiting for the game to start. Blaise, Draco and Valerie had to run to the pitch to avoid missing the going over of the final game plan. He looked up at her from across the circle – her black hair still falling into her eyes even though she had tied it up.

"...And if they have the Quaffle, just knock 'em about little," Bletchley was saying.

Draco smiled to himself, remembering the night before.

_They were the last ones awake, just lying on their backs next to each other, talking about nothing in particular. _

"_So why is it that you don't like me?" Draco had asked. Valerie rolled her eyes and yawned._

"_Because I'm not going to be another one of your ridiculous conquests. I'm not going to be labelled as Draco Malfoy's toy," she explained, almost tiredly. "To put it simply, I'm not going to have sex with you, no matter how hard you try, so I really hope you dropped that bet with Zabini. And besides," she added as an afterthought, "Is there something wrong with _not_ being in love with Draco Malfoy?"_

"_I never thought of you like that," Draco replied but she had rolled over with her back to him. Draco raised his eyebrows. _

"_Valerie?"_

_No response._

_His heart was thudding in his chest. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and hesitantly pulled her closer. _

"_You're so much prettier when you smile. I don't know why you don't do it more," he whispered._

_She felt nice, in a non-creepy, non-horny way. It was comfortable and strangely right._

"Did you get that, Malfoy?"

All eyes were on him when he snapped back to reality.

"Uh..." he mumbled. Bletchley let out an impatient sigh, and Draco restrained the urge to punch him in the face.

"The Hufflepuff seeker is fast, so keep up and don't fall for any misleading dives," Bletchley said.

"Whatever," Draco replied, ruffling his hair. He had decided against doing anything with his hair earlier since the wind was going to mess it up anyway.

"Right, now everyone suit up."

Draco sat down on the nearest bench and bent down to lace up his shin guard.

"Rough night," Blaise said, plopping down on the space beside him.

"You bet," he replied.

"Hey Blaise, ferret boy."

Draco looked up, slightly alarmed at his old nickname. He met the dark blue of Valerie's eyes. She stood before them, already suited up (courtesy of Pucey, _'The damn pervert.' _Draco thought as he watched him blatantly flirt with her earlier) with her hands folded across her chest.

"I'm going to go talk to Crabbe and Goyle – make sure they don't do anything stupid like last time," Blaise said, standing up to leave. Valerie sat down in the newly vacant seat.

"What happened last time?" the girl asked.

Draco shrugged. "They hit bludgers at each other."

"Well that was intelligent."

"How do you know about..._that_?" he asked her warily, not wanting to talk about Crabbe and Goyle any longer. Valerie stared at him blankly. "The ferret thing."

"Someone at Hogwarts told Fleur who told me," she said.

He fumbled around with the laces on the inside of his arm guard, before Valerie grabbed his arm.

"You're hopeless," she said, moving his hands out of the way. Draco swallowed and surrendered. Valerie's touch was cool when her finger's brushed against any exposed skin, but seemed to leave a burning trail.

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when she moved away.

"By the way, how did you know about the...h-hippogriff?" Draco stuttered.

"Hermione is a great storyteller," Valerie said. She winked playfully and walked away to grab her broom.

"Alright boys," said Bletchley before adding hastily, "And girl. We're flying out in 15 seconds."

Everyone started to line up at the entrance, brooms in hand. Blaise slapped him on the back.

"Hey man, I'm happy for you," he said, grinning.

"And why's that?"

"You're finally getting some sort of progress!"

"Git."

Blaise chuckled and turned away to face the front. And then Valerie fell into step next to him, her bat resting on her shoulder whilst she pulled on a pair of leather gloves.

"Good thing you have a sturdy pair of gloves," Draco said, nodding towards her hands. Like any other girl, her hands were small and slim.

"Why's that?"

"It just wouldn't be right for a girl to have calloused hands."

Valerie pretended to fix her hair.

"10 seconds," Bletchley said.

"You know, I heard what you said last night," she said, avoiding his gaze. Draco's eyebrows shot up and felt his face go hot.

"3 seconds," Bletchley called again. The doors swung open, letting the sound of screaming students fill their ears. Whether they were supporting Slytherin or Hufflepuff was unclear, but Draco was pretty sure it was the latter.

"It's because I have no reason to," he heard her say before she kicked off from the ground and flew away.

xxx

Hermione sat in the stands, next to Ginny and Lavender. She was still being slightly standoffish to Ron, but she could always safely blame it on PMS later. It was one of those Quidditch games where Gryffindor would attend only to make an appearance, but Hermione was curious to see how well Valerie could fly.

"Welcome to the final game of the season, Slytherin versus Hufflepuff! This is the debut match of the new Slytherin beater, Valerie Blackwater," announced Lee Jordan. "On the Hufflepuff side, we have Fleet, Smith, Macavoy, Applebee, McManus, Rickett and Summerby."

The Hufflepuff team flew into the center of the pitch before flying out to their positions looking like flying blobs of yellow. The Gryffindors cheered loudly.

"On the Slytherin side – Bletchley, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, Pucey, Blackwater and Malfoy."

The Slytherin team did the same, but instead, a majority of the crowd booed at the green clad flyers. Rolling her eyes, Hermione spotted Valerie hovering in her position, swinging her bat a few times to experiment.

"Madam Hooch has just walked onto the pitch, she blows her whistle and the game has started! Zabini has the Quaffle and tries to go forward, but is tackled by Smith. Macavoy steals the Quaffle, slips past Goyle, passes it to Smith. Smith goes forward, Crabbe and Goyle coming up fast behind him. Smith sharply dodges a bludger by Blackwater and Zabini knocks the Quaffle from Smith. Zabini goes forward again, flanked by Blackwater and Pucey with Crabbe and Goyle not too far behind. Pucey smacks a bludger at Applebee, who dodges easily. Zabini goes in for the goal...and scores! 10 points to Slytherin."

The Slytherins cheered loudly.

"And Applebee has grabbed the Quaffle, starts to go forward but is tackled by Crabbe. Goyle snatches the Quaffle and speeds forward. Smith goes in but is hit in the side by Pucey's bludger."

The crowd loudly booed, except for the Slytherins, who yelled in approval.

"Smith goes down, Applebee tries for the Quaffle again but is tackled by Zabini. Goyle has a straight shot for a goal but is blocked by Fleet. Fleet catches the Quaffle, tosses it to Macavoy. Macavoy goes forward, dodges Crabbe and Zabini. Smith and Applebee flank Macavoy. Crabbe and Goyle try to tackle them again, but is thrown off guard by a bludger from McManus! And the Hufflepuff seeker has seen something! Summerby is speeding towards the Ravenclaw stands while Malfoy is still circling the pitch. Summerby pulls away from the stands, deciding that it wasn't the Snitch. A failed diversion, I'd say. Now, Smith has the Quaffle, goes in for a goal and scores! 10 points to Hufflepuff!"

"I don't know why you find Quidditch interesting," Hermione said to Ginny. "It's so tedious!"

"How can you say that, Hermione," Harry said, turning to her. "Quidditch is like the best sport _ever_!"

"If you hate it that much, Hermione," Ron said, narrowing his eyes, "Then why'd you even bother coming?"

"Yeah Hermione, you have no reason to be here," agreed Lavender, clinging on to Ron's arm. They had made up last night with a disturbing snogging session, making some first years run away screaming.

"I wouldn't be talking, Lavender. You hate Quidditch as much as I do," Hermione said, turning away. "Bimbo."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, Won won. Let's sit somewhere else," Lavender, standing up with a huff, and pulled Ron to seats further down the stand.

Ginny placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about her, Hermione. She's just a tosser."

"Got that right," she muttered, turning her attention back to the match.

"And that's 10 points to Slytherin. Slytherin is leading, 40 to 20. Zabini has the Quaffle, he's racing towards the goals again. Fleet looks ready to defend...but he dodges! He dodges a bludger from Blackwater, leaving the goals open to Zabini who scores! Another 10 points to Slytherin. Macavoy takes the Quaffle and is speeding downwards, Crabbe and Goyle tailing him, he's going to hit the ground! Oh! But he pulls up just in time, and Crabbe is too slow! Crabbe crashes into the ground. Looks nasty. Anyway, Goyle is still after Macavoy. Macavoy passes to Smith, who passes to Applebee. Applebee slams into Blackwater, who slams right back! Applebee elbows Blackwater...in the face? Madam Hooch blows the whistle and calls a foul! Cobbing foul! Good Merlin, there's a lot of blood. Oh, Crabbe is currently being levitated to the hospital wing and looks like Blackwater's nose is broken. "

The crowd cheers. Hermione's jaw dropped in horror.

"I really hope that doesn't leave permanent damage," Ginny said, her eyes widening. "That Applebee has bloody sharp elbows."

Hermione and Harry stared at incredulously.

"What?" she said, looking back and forth between the two. "She's elbowed me in the ribs before and it left a bruise to size of-"

"Do not finish that sentence, Ginny Weasley," interrupted Hermione.

"Slytherin's captain, Bletchley has called a 5 minute a time-out," announced Lee Jordan.

Sure enough, all the players wearing green landed and gathered around Valerie. Hermione saw a blonde head, Malfoy, stand in front of the girl and he pulled out his wand. He pointed it at Valerie's face and said something, causing Valerie to shriek loudly, clutching her face. She straightened up again, and shoved Malfoy away (almost _playfully_?). A dark haired boy (Hermione assumed this was the other beater, Adrian Pucey, since he was holding a bat), came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Madam Hooch asked Valerie something and she nodded and forced a smile.

The Slytherins mounted their brooms again and took off, the black haired girl, rubbing the remaining traces of blood away with her sleeve.

"The Slytherin team back up and flying well, one player down but still leading, 50 to 20. Madam Hooch has called a penalty shot for Slytherin, which will be taken by Zabini. Zabini flies in, Fleet is ready, Zabini goes for the goal...which is blocked by Fleet. Good work!"

Hermione sighed in boredom. Quidditch games were always so back and forth, so she decided to go over all the spells she had learnt (in alphabetical order, the incantation and the effects) that year in her head. She had just entered the W's before Ginny was shaking her.

"Hermione! Summerby has spotted the Snitch!"

"Summerby is diving for the Snitch, but Malfoy is quicker! They're side by side, racing against each other past the Gryffindor...Hufflepuff...and Ravenclaw stands! Summerby's fingers has brushed it! He's reaching out but OH!"

Hermione watched with wide eyes – in the precise second that Summerby could have caught the Snitch, a bludger had rocketed into the tail of the broom, steering him completely off course and almost flying headfirst into the teacher's stand.

"And Draco Malfoy has caught the Snitch, Slytherin wins, 200 to 50," said Lee, a little less enthusiastically. The Slytherin stand erupted into cheers.

"Bloody hell! Harry! Hermione! Did you _see _that?" Ginny exclaimed, practically jumping up and down.

"That Blackwater girl has dead-set aim," Harry said, nodding in approval.

"Wait, that bludger was hers?" Hermione asked.

Both Ginny and Harry nodded furiously.

"Why are you clapping?" Neville asked from behind them. "Slytherin won."

"That Valerie Blackwater deserves some credit, being the first female beater for Slytherin in decades," Harry said. "And you have to admit, she has excellent aim _and_ had her nose broken."

Ginny grinned admiringly at Harry.

xxx

"WE WON!" someone screamed at her just as she landed on the ground. Valerie turned around to be swept up into someone's arms. "We won and we were one player down, but we still won!"

Draco had picked her up and twirled her around once in the air before setting her on her feet again. He was grinning widely, and his face reminded Valerie of a six year old boy on Christmas morning.

"You were excellent out there, handling the bludgers and all," he praised, grinning. Valerie flushed and looking down. Draco's hands were still on her waist.

"Stop touching me, we're all sweaty," she said pushing him away with a smirk. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"But be more careful next time," Draco said, folding his arms across his chest. "Wouldn't want you to get cobbed in the face again. One's nose can be broken only so many times..."

"You would know, wouldn't you," Valerie said, raising an eyebrow at the boy. "Hermione socked you in the face during 3rd year.

"Malfoy and Blackwater, great job out there," Bletchley said, coming between them and clapping them both on the back. "That Applebee has a nasty elbow, aye?"

Bletchley ruffled her hair and walked away.

"Valerie! Draco!"

The pair turned around to see Pansy skipping across the grass towards them.

"I honestly thought that we were going to lose to Hufflepuffs," Pansy said, draping an arm across Valerie's shoulder. "Ew, you're sweaty."

She withdrew her arm and laughed.

"How dare you have such low expectations of your own house!" Draco exclaimed, his hand on his heart with an offended look on his face. "Not only are Slytherins exceptional at Quidditch, but we are also the best looking and sexiest house."

"Well, that explains why we've lost the Cup to Gryffindor for the past 5 years," Pansy retorted.

"Shut up, Parkinson," Draco shot back. "I don't see you going anywhere near a broomstick, let alone being chased around by bludgers."

"Whatever," she sniffed. "Come on, Valerie, let's go to Hogsmede to celebrate."

"Wait, you're just going to drag me off to some place all stinky and sweaty?" asked Valerie, eyes widening. She was also still holding onto her broom.

Pansy wrinkled her nose. "Good point."

xxx

The body of students slowly started to move down the staircase of the stands, loud conversations of the game still going strong. Harry followed behind Ginny and Hermione with his hands in his pockets, staring at his feet. Ron had left him for Lavender. Git. But his sister, on the other hand...beautiful and talented...

"Harry? Did you hear what I just asked you?"

Harry stopped staring at his muddy sneakers and looked up, meeting the familiar brown eyes of a certain red-head.

"S-sorry, what?" he stuttered.

Ginny smiled a little. "I asked you if you were going to Hogsmede."

"Um, I don't know," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay then, see you around."

She turned around and started to walk away.

_'You dolt,'_ thought Harry. _'Just ask her, you bloody tosser.'_

"Wait," he half-shouted at the girl, grabbing her wrist. Ginny turned to face him again, her eyebrows furrowed together. "I was wondering..."

Harry swallowed and Ginny cocked her head to the side slightly.

"I was wondering if we could go to Hogsmede."

"Well of course you can go to Hogsmede," she replied.

"I mean, like, you know, together?" Harry said. His voice sounded choked. Harry held his breath in anticipation.

"Oh," Ginny said, her eyebrows furrowing again. "I'm sorry, Harry. Dean and I are going on a date."

Harry's face fell. At that moment, he wanted to find Dean and punch him in the face, but he didn't because then Ginny wouldn't be very happy.

Instead, he choked out, "I see. Well, have fun then."

She gave him an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry, Harry," she tried. Harry just shrugged.

"Bloody girls," he muttered while walking away.

After Valerie had showered and changed, Pansy dragged the three of them – Valerie, Blaise and Draco – to the Three Broomsticks.

"This place is shabby and dirty," said Pansy as they sat down at a table. The bartender shot her a dirty look. "But its the only place around here that sells a decent glass of Butterbeer."

Blaise chuckled. Valerie took in her new surroundings; the room was eerily lit, giving off a warm, cozy feeling. Almost everything was made of wood – the tables, the chairs. It really was quite different to the bars in France.

Soon enough, the first round of Butterbeer came as the boys discussed all things Quidditch. Pansy turned to Valerie and rolled her eyes.

"I don't get you Quidditch players. The sport isn't even that fun to watch," she said.

"That's only because you don't know what to watch _for_," Valerie replied.

"Agreed," said Blaise. Pansy shot him a scary look, causing him to clear his throat uncomfortably.

"But seriously, Valerie," the girl continued, taking a swig from her glass. "One day, one of those huge guys will knock you off your broom and you'll dislocate your shoulder or something." Pansy shuddered.

Draco rolled his eyes while Blaise shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Valerie saw Pansy watch Blaise until he glanced up at her, she quickly averted her eyes.

And then Draco stepped on her foot.

The girl narrowed her eyes and kicked his knee. Draco's face twisted up in pain but remained silent – Valerie smirked triumphantly.

"So, Valerie," Draco said through gritted teeth. "You agreed earlier to let me to take you to Honeydukes."

"What the hell is Honeydukes?"

"Exactly."

Valerie's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, and then Draco seized hold of her arm and hauled her from her seat.

"We will see _you two_," the blonde boy said, nodding towards Blaise and Pansy (both of which had appalled expressions on their faces). "Later." he finished, before dragging Valerie from the bar.

xxx

"In case you haven't realised, I don't like being dragged from places unwillingly," Valerie said as soon as Draco had released her outside.

"Whatever," he replied curtly, shrugging his shoulders before turning around and walking away.

"Prick," she muttered before following him grudgingly.

xxx

Professor Mcgonagall hurried through the streets of Hogsmede, the students passing by gave her strange looks.

"Since when did Mcgonagall come down to Hogsmede?" she heard them whisper. Shaking her head, she scanned each of the passed students' faces, searching for a certain girl with black hair and peculiar eyes, who goes by the name Valerie Blackwater.

The woman paused for a moment.

_'If I were a 15 year old girl, where would I go?' _she thought.

"Just get over it, it's not like I _asked_ you to send me a bloody love note at 4AM."

"Oh please, you probably didn't even go back to sleep after that."

"You're right, because I was so mentally disturbed-"

"-By my devilishly handsome good looks?"

"Don't make me laugh."

Mcgonagall looked to her right, to see the Blackwater girl bickering with Draco Malfoy. Who knew what students of Hogwarts did after hours. Raising her eyebrows, the professor quickly approached the pair.

"Miss Blackwater, I'd like to have a word," she said. Draco Malfoy shrugged and walked away to examine a shop window.

"Yes, Professor?" the girl said.

"A message came from the Malfoy Manor for you. It was marked as urgent, and when the owl couldn't find you in the school, it took it to Professor Dumbledore."

Mcgonagall then produced an envelope from one of the outside pockets of her robes and placed it into Valerie's hands.

"Thank you, Professor."

The woman nodded and gestured for her the open it. Dumbledore had instructed her to stay with the child in case she needed assistance.

Mcgonagall watched Valerie scan the letter, her mouth in a frown.

"My mother is sick..." she murmured, looking up.

"I'm sorry, Miss Blackwater," said Professor Mcgonagall.

"I have to go back," she said. Her eyes had widened and she turned around and started to walk away, but Valerie suddenly stopped a good 10 feet from the older woman. "Professor, please. I need to see if my mother is alright. She could die!"

Looking over her shoulder, Valerie realised that nothing was holding her back. The professor was slightly taken back by the obvious distraught on the young girl's face.

"I am not in your way of leaving, Miss Blackwater," the woman said.

"Then how come I can't move?"

"What's going on here?"

Draco Malfoy was now beside Valerie, who's face was going pale.

"Mister Malfoy, please escort Miss Blackwater to the Hospital Wing."

xxx

The two (endless) weeks of non-stop OWLs had finally come to an end, but Valerie was baffled. Ever since Professor Mcgonagall had given her the letter from Narcissa, she'd had attempted to go back to the Manor to check on her mother, but something was always in her way.

Once, Valerie had woken up at 2AM, to try to sneak out of the castle, but before she could sleep out the door of the dormitory, _something _stopped her in her tracks.

Valerie finished packing her trunk with a last flourish of her wand and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Hey," said Pansy, sitting down next to her. "You've been distracted lately, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing," Valerie replied quickly, smiling tightly. "Come on, we don't want to miss breakfast."

On the way to the Great Hall, Valerie bumped into a certain bushy haired Gryffindor.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, ducking her head. Valerie scowled at the girl.

"Pansy, you go on first," she instructed and pulled Hermione to the side and around a corner.

"You really scare me sometimes, Valerie," said Hermione with a laugh.

"Sorry about that," Valerie replied, rubbing the back of her neck meekly. If the other Slytherins knew that she was on such close terms with _the_ Hermione Granger, the mud-blood Gryffindor and the female counterpart of the Golden Trio, who knows what they would do. The pair had gotten close during the OWLs period, meeting up regularly in the library for long periods of time to just study, until Madam Pince forced them out.

"It's alright," Hermione said, smiling. "So what made you pull me here?"

"I was wondering..."

Valerie trailed off, wondering how she was supposed to word this.

"If you knew of any kind of magic that would prevent people from, I don't know, leaving?"

Hermione stared at her blankly. "Leaving from where?"

"Anywhere, I suppose."

The pair started to walk back the way they came, Hermione thinking silently.

"I guess that there are some special repelling spells and wards and whatnot..." she said when they reached the doors to the Great Hall.

"Blackwater! What are you doing talking to a mud-blood?" sneered an all too familiar voice. Valerie sighed and shot Hermione an apologetic look; she smiled and shrugged, then walked away to join the Gryffindor table.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

As soon as Hermione was out of earshot and they were walking towards the Slytherin table, Draco shoved his hands into the pockets.

"Nothing much. Just wondering if you were going to visit the Manor this summer?" he asked.

Valerie almost laughed out loud. _'I've practically been living in your house for my whole life without you knowing.'_

But instead, she said, "I don't know. I'll be busy this summer."

"Doing what?"

"Hooking up with hot guys from Durmstrang," Valerie said with a wink and proceeded to sit down next to Pansy and dig into a crossiant, leaving Draco standing with a stupid look on his face.

* * *

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